


The Price You Pay

by Cr0wsnest



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: But also, Established Relationship, Katagawa is an ass, Lorelei is a good bro, Mentions of Blood and Torture, Other, References to TFTBL, Rhys being Rhys, Secret Relationship, They/Them Pronouns for Lorelei (Borderlands), They/Them Pronouns for Zer0 (Borderlands), Zer0 being unmasked for profit, Zer0 gets katagawanapped, Zer0 is half human half Eridian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cr0wsnest/pseuds/Cr0wsnest
Summary: In an attempt to ruin atlas CEO, Rhys Strongfork’s life, he takes what is most dear to him.
Relationships: Rhys/Zer0 (Borderlands)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	The Price You Pay

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to make this three separate chapters, but I already combined the google docs so this is what you get. This basically wrote itself because I love hurt/comfort so sorry for the mistakes.

Something was off. Since the war with Katagawa started, it had been a constant show of teeth, both parties doing whatever they could to get a leg up. However, for the past week, he had not heard from Maliwan's newfound favorite son at all. 

And now? Zer0 wasn’t picking up their ECHO. 

So, he knew something was wrong. They always picked up unless they were on some top secret mission, but Rhys hadn’t sent them on one so there should be no reason why— Rhys’ mind immediately went to the worst case scenarios. 

He had already checked all over the building himself. He sent Gortys, Loader Bot, and Lorelei to check other places around the city. Apparently, no one had heard from them since last night, Rhys being the last person to see them.

They stopped Lorelei’s last night for a few minutes and then by their favorite froyo place downtown. Which was a nice surprise, Rhys might add. Zer0 wasn’t good at showing their affection verbally, but they did so many small things for him that most people wouldn’t even think of. Other than that though, they immediately came back home. 

So, now they were stuck, with no leads as to where Zer0 was. He thought back to what Zer0 said to him, “No one vanishes from sight that wants to be found.” 

This couldn’t have been their intent though. They wouldn't leave him like that. He knew this. That meant something had happened to them and he needed to figure it out now. 

He walked into security, ignoring the passing glances the guards gave him. ‘Please. No one ask what’s going on, please…’ 

“Hey, Boss! Where’s Zer0? They’re hours late, we’ve been waiting forever!” 

Shit. 

He laughed nervously, “Must have come down with something, I’ll check in on them in a few. I just- just have to check the cam logs real quick. So…”

“Oh, yeah, of course!” The guard smiled and stepped aside to let him in.

The lights flickered on as he walked in and locked the door behind him. The rows of monitors never got less ominous, especially not in this situation. He interfaced with the computer, helping to make this easier for himself, “Okay, come on there’s gotta be something.” 

The earliest entry was yesterday morning. Gortys was rolling around Zer0 as they walked down the security hall. She went on about some upgrade that they had been discussing for her. Since Gortys had joined Atlas, she had been constantly looking for new ways to help out and make friends. Zer0 had become one of her favorite people to bug about this.

“I could help you on missions! It would be so cool! Imagine us out in the tundra, taking out bandits left and right!!!” She exclaimed, making finger guns, and unfortunately mixing up her left and her right.

“That is dangerous. You need to stay here where you’re safe. I admire your drive.”

“Oh come oooonnnn, Zer0! I can do it! Remember when we fought The Traveler? I know so much now!”

“You need to ask Rhys.”

“He’ll say no!”

“Then why did you ask me Gortys? Expecting a yes?” 

Okay, okay, back on track. This was cute, but not what he was looking for.

The next one was them talking to the guards about security. Apparently some of the guards had the same password for literally everything they owned which was a big security risk in and of itself, but one of them had even left their computer logged in. 

And wow. Being insulted in haiku must have been an interesting experience for that poor guy.

Rhys searched until he found something of interest. Which was— nothing, really. Absolutely nothing. All of these were completely normal. Maybe Zer0 was smart enough to stay off cameras, but this sucked. There was no evidence of them leaving at all. Even when he checked all the cameras on the way from Rhys’ office to their bedroom, there was nothing abnormal. They had made it safely. So, what had happened?

Rhys ran his hands through his hair and leaned back in the chair, not knowing what to do. It was then that his ECHO started ringing. He sighed and lifted his robotic hand, answering the call.

“Lorelei, please tell me you’ve found something.” 

“I didn’t, but Gortys and L.B. might have.” They looked to be scanning another computer screen for something. 

Loader Bot appeared on screen, “Hi.”

He exhaled, “Yeah, hi, Buddy.” 

“I’m here too! We found something!” Gortys was too short to be seen on the screen, but she sure was loud.

“Yes, what is it? Just tell me.” He was tired, confused, overall just emotionally exhausted, and he wanted his partner back.

“It wasn’t in port, but apparently a Maliwan ship landed a few miles from the city border yesterday morning.” 

Rhys huffed, “And no one noticed this until now?!” 

“Well, we only know because They talked to this cashier that works on the edge of the city. She said she went stargazing yesterday and saw something break atmo. Definitely not the smartest, that one, she went to investigate, but it’s good for us.”

“Are they still there?”

“That's what we’re going out to check. I’ll call you again when I know something”

He sighed and slid down in his chair, “Thanks. I’m going to check cams for any sign of those bastards.” 

The call ended. Rhys stared at the screen, deciding to try calling Zer0 one more time. It rang twice and then hung up.

Which was weird.

It had just kept ringing until it shut off the last few times. So, either Zer0 was ignoring him, or someone had hung up for them. 

Rhys shot up and interfaced with the camera logs again. This time, he scanned for any sign of Katagawa. 

There was nothing. 

So, why was there a ship? What was their goal? They hadn’t just landed to have a picnic. (The hills were lovely this time of year, but that definitely wasn’t their plan.) He huffed and stood up, deciding the cams weren’t going to help, and went straight back to his office.

He felt awful for just sitting there and watching the fish swim around, but he was waiting for Lorelei’s call. He was about to scream, he just wanted this to be over. Why was running a weapons company this stressful?

The buzzer went off, he pressed the button to answer it, “What can I do for you?” 

“Mr. Strongfork! I need to speak with you.” 

Well, it sounded urgent enough. He recognized the voice as Katherine, a guard assigned to the front entrance of the building. He opened the door. 

Katherine ran over, “I tried to get here as soon as possible, but there’s a LOT of stairs between. Like, a lot, I had to—“

“Katherine! What was so important?” 

“I… Patrol found this outside.” She held out something for him to take. A hilt to a sword? 

Rhys took it, his heart once again dropping in his chest as it digistructed in front of him. It was Zer0’s sword. The sword they never left anywhere. 

“Where did you find it?” He was openly panicking, but he didn’t care anymore. 

“I didn’t. The noon patrol did. Said they found it beneath the bushes heading out of headquarters.” 

He immediately answered the ECHO when it rang, “Guys,” he pleaded, “Please… Good news?”

Lorelei frowned, “None. Damn ship isn’t here. We’re back to square one.”

He quickly waved Kathrine off, “Patrol found Zer0’s sword out in a ditch! Something happened to them!” 

“Nothing happens to Zer0, Rhys. There’s an explanation to this, I bloody know it. Gortys, get back here! Oh for the love of- Gortys!”

Rhys let out of half-scream of frustration, “Where are they?..” 

He could hear Lorelei calling for him, but he was in another world.

“They could be dead by now, we’ve been looking for them all day! An- And we don’t even know what happened last night!”

“RHYS!” 

He looked back at her, tears in his eyes.

“Katagawa is streaming…” She stared off somewhere off screen.

“What?.. Like those dumb twins? What does he think he’s gonna get out of that?” 

“I don’t know, but he has Zer0…” 

A silence. 

“He… What?” His voice cracked.

—

How did he get this lucky? To be able to kidnap a real vault hunter- no. The head of security. Top agent of Atlas. The (debatably) best assassin in the galaxy. 

Katagawa giggled to himself, looking over the tied up Zer0. After weeks of studying the assassin’s suit, he was able to reverse engineer it and figure out a way to block whatever that weird teleporting thing was. So, they couldn’t move even if they tried.

They looked a little worse for wear. A few cracks on the surface of their mask, a few scrapes and dirt spots on their suit from where he let his workers kick them around a bit. Buried if he was really going to get to Rhys, Zer0 had to look like they had been through the blender! Small prices to pay.

Also, turns out, beating the light out of someone’s eyes (screen?) really raised team morale. 

Back to the plan though.

“You know, I just guessed when I injected you with that stuff. Chloroform kinda wouldn’t work with you so…” He smiled.

“This is all poi-ointless. So-o-o, what do you wish to achieve? I-I- Is it the money-ey?” The voice modulation was clearly acting up, glitching and repeating syllables. 

Quite unfortunate for the weirdo who only speaks in haiku.

“Oh, no. This is about destroying everything Rhys holds dear! Wait until you hear about my plans for the Lazy River Land!”

He turned to the desk behind him, making sure everything was up and ready to go. Zer0, once again, tried to decepti0n their way out, but it didn't work. 

“Not happening, Z. I told you, those handcuffs block that ability. Remember when one of your suits went missing? I took it and had my team reverse engineer it. You know, in case I ever wanna go strolling about as you.”

“Do n-no-no-not call me tha-“

“Listen, this glitching thing is just getting sad, drop the haiku already. Besides, I need to tell you what’s about to happen, Friend!”

Katagawa sat down in his chair, folding his hands together, “So, we’re going to start a broadcast, talk to the people a little, get Rhys on the phone and watch all hope he had of finding you safe die, and then,” He grinned, “We’re gonna unmask you in front of everyone watching.

They froze, only turning their head to look at him.

“You don’t know what you are do-o-oing. You ca-ca-cannot do that.”

“Oh, I can and I will. Because I know what you truly are— other than a lowly assassin who just got bored. You took Rhys from me. Without you he would have accepted my offer!”

“No, he wouldn't ha-a-a-ave. He is smarter than you think him. Maliwan ju-just sucks.”

He growled. “We’ll see about that.”

“I get why those twins enjoy this so much! What a rush!” He spun around in his chair, “Everyone watching, tell your friends, enemies, Hell, even your grandmothers! I will be revealing the identity of the one and only, Zer0 the assassin!”

“Nononono! You can't do this, Katagawa! What do you want?!”

“Oh it’s far too late for that, Rhysie. You should have taken my offer when you had the chance! I told you that I would destroy everything you love, you just didn’t think I would be able to get your bodyguard now, did you?”

“Please! I- I’ll pay you so- so much money, just, just don’t do this to them!”

“Calm down now, if I didn’t know any better I would think you cared about them more than just one of your employees, Rhys.” He teased.

“I do! Is that what you want?! For me to say it?! I do, just let them go, please!” 

Katagawa’s face shifted from surprise to pure anger. He took a deep breath.

“I would now like to explain to the audience, oh look at that, thousands joining by the second, how I figured all of this out.”

He turned the camera to a board filled to the brim with writings, notes, and photos, seemingly all his ‘evidence,’ but the words were too small to see.

“See, in my studies of them, there are several key factors that should have been obvious in hindsight! How tall they are, the weird posture, the deadly accuracy, their fi-“

“My-y-y hands are normal.” Zer0 sassed him from offscreen, their voice modulator still glitching from the damage. Rhys could imagine the ‘>:(‘ appearing on their mask, if he wasn’t so damned worried.

“Sh- Shut up! I’m talking!” He huffed, “LIKE I was saying… We’re now going to gather the final piece of evidence I need to confirm my theory.”

He once again moved the camera, this time to the tied and bound Zer0. Rhys’ heart stuttered in his chest, dread filling his entire body. He had seen them without the mask before, of course he had, but this was different. This was an invasion of privacy. He was going to show everyone. It had the chance to completely ruin them, to put them on a list for every bounty hunter in the entire universe.

“I will sli-i-i-ice you into pieces. You will regret this.”

“Big talk from someone who can’t move.” Katagawa grinned and grabbed a dagger from the table beside them. He could hear Rhys’ screaming, pleading, music to his ears.

“Zer0, where are you, I’ll send someone! Please, what planet, anything!”

“Ship in the Mael-

Male? Ships in the Male? Mail? Mael- Maelstrom! Ship in the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom galaxy. Not too far away, but if they had any chance Rhys had to go as soon as possible.

“You two never shut up!” Katagawa jammed his elbow into the side of Zer0’s helmet and tried to continue, “The final piece of evidence…” He lined the dagger on their back, “Is their blood!”

Zer0 didn’t make a sound as he shoved the knife through their back, they kept their composure, but Rhys knew it hurt but the way they tensed up, their chest barely moving with their breathing. Katagawa only smiled as the violet colored blood seeped through their suit.

He laughed, “It’s purple! And what species has that rare trait, huh, Zer0?”

They didn’t answer, just tilted their head down.

“You are sucking the fun out of this, you know that right?” He sighed, “You know, Rhys would at least be screaming and pleading for his li-“

Zer0 snapped their head back up, jamming the pointed part of their helmet right into Katagawa’s eye. He screamed, dropping the dagger in favor of covering his now bleeding eye socket.

“YOU BITCH!!!” He screamed in agony, heaving for his breaths, “You really shouldn’t have done that!!!”

He picked the knife back up, holding it to their throat with one hand, finally ripping off their mask with the other. 

“They are Eridian!” He froze.

“Wait… Wait a minute... You’re… You’re part human too?!”

Zer0, once again, didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. They didn’t show any emotion at all.

“Oh, Rhysie! This is even better! Do you know how much scientists would pay to dissect them?! I’d much rather do it myself, but imagine the money! Why did you ever hide this?!” He grabbed Zer0 by the chin and examined their markings.

“You won't get the chance, you bastard!” Rhys yelled.

“Oh, I think I will.” Katagawa turned to broadcast again, “Bids start at three million. However, I am going to have a little fun with them first, mind you.”

“I told you, I'll give you whatever you want!”

“You think I’d accept any from you? I’m trying to take them away from you, not just borrow them.” His eyes scanned the screen, “Ohohoh my God, look at those numbers roll in.” 

Rhys was practically pulling his hair out at this point. He heard the door creak open, only glancing at it for a second before seeing Lorelei sneak in. They looked worried, but he was on a whole other level. 

There was nothing they could do to bid, if Katagawa saw that it was sent from Promethea, he would probably instantly reject it. Maybe they could wire it? Make it seem like it was from another planet? 

“4.5 billion? Hello! We have a winner! In only a few minutes too. I’m impressed. I’ll get in touch with you in a few short minutes.”

Okay, too late for that, new plan. They had to come up with a new plan and fast. 

“Well, Rhysie, looks like your precious bodyguard is SOLD. Sorry, Bud, except that I’m really not. Talk to you soon, but Zer0 won’t.” He smiled and abruptly ended both the call and the broadcast.

Rhys screamed in frustration, tears brimming in his eyes. Lorelei silently leaning against the wall of a fish tank. The buzzer kept going off. Everyone in the building knew what was happening now. In a fit of frustration, he threw it against the wall, smashing it to pieces. 

“There’s gotta be-“

“What if there’s not?! You- You’ve been something that there’s ‘gotta be this,there’s gotta be that,’ but what if there’s not? What if they’re gone and we can never get them back?!”

They bit their tongue, “Look, I'll be honest with you. Odds don’t look good, you’re right, but there’s still a chance. You built up a company from the bottom of a bloody pit, you can convince some rich sap to hand them over. We’ve got a whole military at our side if not.”

They awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder which he responded with a crushing hug, weeping into their hair.

“Alright then, hugs it is. Let it out, Mate.” They sighed and held him. Eventually, they would try to drag him to bed, make him get some rest for whatever the hell was going to happen tomorrow, but they would let him be for now. 

He deserved at least that. 

—

“Rhys, wake up!” 

Small metal hands shook at his arm, he groaned and turned the other way, “Just… Just a few more… Hours…” 

“I have water! I’m not going to pour it on you, because that could hurt me, but it's for your tears!”

He forced his eyes open, landing on the small robot, “Huh?..”

“Lorelei told me you were crying! A lot!” Gortys held up the cup.

All of yesterday flashed through his brain. So, it wasn’t a nightmare then. He slowly sat up and took the glass of water. 

“Thanks, Gortys…”

“No problem! But we should probably get going soon!” She spun around excitedly.

“Where’s there to go?”

“A very pretty lady wants you to visit!”

“I’m not accepting any business deals for the next few…” He sighed, “Evers.” 

“But you have to! She said it’s important! I can't leave you here to sulk.” She pouted, “Zer0 is my friend too, but they wouldn't sit down and pout all day! They’d probably go chop someone’s head off!” 

Rhys sighed, trying the rim of the glass with his natural hand, “You’re… Probably right, but-“

“No butts! Only movements!” She pulled at his pants leg, not able to move him in the slightest.

He stood up, letting her lead him to a ship in docking bay three. Lorelei was already inside, along with several other crew mates who would be running the ship itself.

‘We can't just leave HQ like this. No one is there to protect it.’ Rhys thought to himself, but couldn’t bring himself to speak his concern. Instead he just sat in one of the chairs, staring out the window, waiting for liftoff. 

“Well, you look bloody awful.” Lorelei leaned against the wall next to him. 

He hummed and smiled sarcastically, “Rough night.”

“This woman could have some info, at least straighten your tie!”

Before he even got the chance, they did it for him, trying to fix his shirt and hair, 

“There… Not all better, but certainly not as bad”

He sighed and looked back out the window, “Where are we going, anyway?”

“Probably into a death trap, if I’m honest. Lady’s dragging us to Pandora. It’s the only thing we’ve got though.”

“Pandora?! Are you kidding?!”

“I wish. Know don’t have too many great memories there.”

Which was kind of true. So many awful things happened there. Getting stabbed in the back by his best friend, left for dead, Jack, pizza faces, and just generally terrible things. However, it was also where he met a few friends. Gortys, Fiona, Sasha… Zer0. 

Of course, he had watched the videos. Clips of them years ago, killing bandits left and right, defeating Handsome Jack, their vault hunter days, and he had immediately fallen in love with them. In a fanboy way, not in the way he was now. He remembered watching those videos all the time, Vaughn teasing him about it, saying they were his next ‘Handsome Jack.’ 

Joke was on Vaughn though because Zer0 ended up being so much more. 

They had to have separate bedrooms, to keep them secret from everyone, but after this? After this Rhys was never going to let them go even a room away without him. Everyone in the entire universe knew now, might as well go for it

And of course they had gone on ‘dates’ in public before, but always kept the PDA minimal to none, at the most it was passable as platonic. Sometimes they would drag Lorelei along to make it seem like they were just a group of friends hanging out. 

In private though it was different. Zer0 was surprisingly clingy, which he didn’t mind at all. The amount of times that he’d been reading reports, only for them to crawl over, put their head in his lap, and fall asleep, was astronomical. Also, it was cute when ‘zzz’ popped on their mask- gave him a little more reading light too.

He felt the rumble of the ship, which probably meant they were landing. He didn’t mean to trail off into thought the whole time, but he was glad he did. The unsettling nostalgia hit when he looked upon the harsh desert outside.

“C’mon.” Lorelei waved him through the open door, making a comment about how hot it was.

“It should be in that town over there!” 

Rhys looked up, no sign of a name anywhere, but a large gate stood in front of it. It took a few minutes before the guards let them in. Mostly due to Lorelei’s colorful suggestions of where their guns could go if they didn’t let them in.

The town was fairly decent looking for Pandora. Not as much trash littered around, the walls weren’t completely covered in spray paint or blood, all good signs. They lead him to a large building with a bright neon sign.

Moxxxi’s.

“Is this- What is this a strip club? Why are we here?” 

“It’s a bar. The woman who owns it is the one that contacted us.”

“Are we sure it’s safe for Gortys to go in? Maybe she should wait in the ship.”

“And are you going to walk her back because I sure as hell am not. We walked all this bloody way, she’ll be fine.” 

Rhys gave a defeated sigh, crossing his arms before they all entered. 

Immediately, they were greeted by the woman at the bar. 

“Welcome, you sure do know how to keep a lady waiting don’t you?” She leaned across the bar, her voice low. Rhys could have swore he had heard her before.

“Um- We-“ Lorelei stuttered. 

“Wow! You’re really pretty!” Gortys exclaimed, getting a chuckle from the woman.

“Whatever information you have about Zer0, tell us or hand it over.”

The woman looked him up and down, “And here I didn’t think you were the demanding type. Rhys, is it?”

He was growing both annoyed and confused, “How do you know me?”

“You mean other than the fact you’re the CEO of Atlas?” She deadpanned, “You helped my son in his final moments. I figured I owed you one.”

“Your son?”

“Scooter.” She smiled, a ghost of a frown on her face.

“Yo-You’re Scooter’s mom?..” 

“Yes. You can call me Moxxi.” She brushed her hair out of her face.

Gortys waved her arms around trying to get her attention again, “I’m Gortys!!! It’s nice to meet you!” 

Moxxi raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Gortys? Well, if that doesn’t sound lovely.” 

It clicked.

“You- You sent Zer0 to find her…”

“I did. Years ago. Unfortunately, they never did, otherwise this lil’ sweetheart would be mine.” 

“Why are we here?” 

“Because,” She lowered her voice, leaning in closer to him, “I was the highest bidder, Sugar.”

His eyes widened. Either this lady was just rubbing it in or she was going to help get them back. She searched for something under the bar.

“I felt bad. Seeing you two apart like that and him just… I felt bad for my vault hunter, okay? Especially with what you both have done for me and my family.” She stood back up, a key in hand. “So, I paid that weirdo out for you. Just don’t let him catch wind too early, hm?” 

She walked over to one of the walls, revealing a secret door, “Come on.” 

Rhys practically ran to catch up with her, Lorelei and Gortys following shortly behind. 

It wasn’t a long walk, just a hallway or two, and there they were. Sitting on the bed, legs crossed, while a woman wrapped their arm with bandages. They didn’t even bother wearing their helmet anymore, and those were possibly the most ‘normal’ clothes he had ever seen them in.

“ZER0!!!” Rhys practically screamed as he ran towards them, tackling them onto the bed into a bone-crushing hug.

Gortys was also over quick, not being able to reach up on the bed for a hug, but excited for her friend’s return nonetheless. Lorelei just stared, not used to seeing their face quite yet, not really even believing it to be them.

“For the love of- Ma, you gotta tell me before you bring people in! Especially if they’re hootin’ and hollerin’ like that!” The woman that was bandaging Zer0 up complained, and stood, taking her place next to Moxxi.

“Wait- Ma? You two are-?” 

Moxxi smiled, “Yes. This is my beautiful girl, Ellie.” 

“Wow, you look… really good for a mom.” 

“I have my ways.” She winked.

Meanwhile, Rhys and Zer0 were still latched to each other. Zer0 ran their hand through his hair trying to stop some of the crying. 

“I am here now, Rhys. Sorry for my disappearance. And for your worry.”

“I thought you were dead…”

“He couldn’t kill me. Then I wouldn’t see you again. I’ll always come back.”

He choked back another sob, “I’m never letting you out of my sight again, you know that?” 

“That I understand. Though I cannot say I mind it.” They smiled. 

Rhys sat up, running a hand over the bruises on their face, “I’m going to kill him.” 

“Only if I help. He copied my suit.”

“How did he even do that?” 

“I’m not sure, really creepy. We’ll worry later.”

He smiled, “Yeah…” 

“Zer0! Down here! Is that really you?!” Gortys patted the mattress.

They looked down, “Gortys, you are here.” Zer0 smiled and picked her up, setting her on the bed.

Immediately, she was attached to their waist, “Wow! You look cool! I’m glad you’re okay! We were so worried!!!”

“There is no need to worry now. I’ll be coming home.”

“Yay! Now Rhys can stop crying!”

He sniffled, “Well, maybe- Yeah. Maybe I cried… a- just a little…” 

Zer0 kissed his cheek, “We can’t have that now. I suppose I can never leave. Without permission.”

“Nonono- never leaving is good! Never leaving is good.” 

Lorelei sat on the other side of them, “How are we gonna get you out without everyone seeing you?”

Ellie clapped her hands, “Ma and I thought this through! You can just carry them out!” 

“That is… an awful idea.” 

“Look, Honey, people get black out drunk here all the time. It won’t look any more suspicious than the inevitable next person today.”

“I’m too tall for that.” 

Ellie put a hand on her hip, “Oh. I suppose you’re right about that one. Maybe we can just throw a blanket over ya.” 

“A clean and freshly washed one, I assure you.” Moxxi smiled.

“Just another day in Pandora.” Rhys sighed, “I guess it’s the best option we got. 

Rhys was going to kill Katagawa for what he had done, rest assured, but for now they would get Zer0 home. He already postponed any meetings they had, despite their complaining. Yes, cameras probably needed ansome upgrades, they were pretty useless in helping. Yes, the guards needed a talking to about letting a random competitor ship land on the outskirts of the city. 

But they could wait.

Right now, he had to take care of Zer0, that was priority number one. It was the most injuries he had ever seen on them at once. This wouldn’t happen ever again. Rhys would make sure of it.

The next few weeks were damage control- mostly doubling down on security measures, catching up on all of the reports, meetings, and other requests they had been too busy to get to.

Zer0’s helmet had been completely destroyed while they were still captive as well. Naturally, Rhys started working on a new one in his spare time, but they didn’t seem in too much of a rush.

They were actually doing just fine without it. Everyone else seemed to be a bit more wary of them, but in their minds they were the last of the Eridians so it was kind of expected. However, a least a third of the security guards even tried to get closer to them, obviously showing their interest.

You admit your love for someone in front of the entire universe and people still try to flirt with your partner. The audacity. There was one day where Zer0 got so tired of someone flirting with them that they grabbed Rhys, kissed him, and then walked out. Out of all the problems that they thought they would have, this wasn’t one of them.

While Rhys was working on the helmet one day, they walked in, rubbing their temples.

“Hey, Gortys talking your head off again?” 

“No. Well... yes. I’m fine. Maliwan guards caught at the gate.”

“Already?” 

Zer0 threw their arms around his neck from behind, “They have been dealt with.” 

He leaned back, enjoying their warmth, and pressing a kiss against their cheek, “I didn’t have any doubt. Your new helmet is almost done. Just a few more wiring things I have to fix.”

“It’s… very shiny.” They said, staring with admiration.

“Yeah! Watch this!”

Rhys activated the screen, the LEDs lighting up a bright red zero almost like their previous one.

“That- there are so many pixels. I like the difference.”

“Now you can have a broader range if you want. I added this specific one for the jerk in sector A.” 

It flicked to what appeared to be a middle finger. Zer0 laughed, and reached out to feel the smooth surface, “You amaze me, Rhys.”

He just flushed red at the compliment, “Oh, come on, Zer0. How many times are you gonna turn my heart to mush today?” 

“Just showing my admiration.” They grinned, knowing exactly what they did to him.

Rhys turned his chair around to face them, pulling them down, and resting their foreheads together. 

“I love you so mu-“

Red lights suddenly flashed around them, an alarm blaring. They were under attack. Of course, at the worst possible time.

“Oh, come on!!!” He yelled.

Zer0 let out a small laugh as they activated the protective measures in the office and unsheathed their sword, “I love you too, Rhys.” 

And with that- they were gone.


End file.
